T300 Locks up with External USB HD

Question

When I attach a portable USB hard drive to my new T300 server, the drive is not recognized and many server functions are locked up. The only way out is to use the power button to shut down the server.

The problem seems to exist with drives that are powered by the USB ports. I've tried both Seagate and Iomega drives, and I've tried a dual USB adapter that gets power from two ports. The problem keeps occurring. However, there is not a problem when using USB HDs with external power supplies such as the WD Mybook and Seagate Freeagent Desk.

Is there a fix for this T300 problem? I've run these drives with Dell Vostro 200, 220, 400 models and Inspiron notebooks and a Macbook Pro. All of those can easily handle the non-powered drives and they are whimpy machines compared to the T300, but the T300 doesn't seem to be able to cope with the USB demands. Does anyone know of a solution? I am depending on these small format drives for backup purposes.

Thanks for the help,

-Clyde

waffle_xl · Accepted Answer

UPDATE:  Solution was using a different brand of small USB powered drive.  The WD My Passport did the trick.  It's as small as the Seagate Free agent GO and the Iomega eGo, but the Passport seems compatible with the T300 server.  It is formatted as Fat32 while the other two were NTSF.  I'm not sure what made the difference, but I'm glad to have small drives that will work for my backup routine.

designercab · Answer

I have a T300 too, but all external USB HD drives I have tried work with it so far. What OS are you running on the T300 ? My Maxtor 1GB works fine and so does the external Seagate drive! Do you have some other USB device like a mouse, does this also not work? I can assure you though that the Dell T300 works fine with any USB device! Give more information and maybe I can help troubleshooting.

:emotion-43:

waffle_xl · Answer

Thanks for the feedback, All other USB devices seem to work fine. I'm running a USB mouse and keyboard, and I've tried flash drives with no problem. I have a Raid 5 SCSI setup and I'm running Windows 2003 Server R2. Also, Symantec (Veritas) Backup Exec. Everything communicates with the USB drives if they are connected on startup. If they are connected after the server is running, then they don't work. The server reacts briefly (the Safely Romove icon shows up), but the drive doesn't show in the Computer listing. Anything else that should show something about the drive (Device Manager, Manage Computer, etc.) will not open. IE won't run and the normal shutdown selections are not available.

Thanks for your help,

Clyde

designercab · Answer

What file system (FAT32, FAT16 or NTFS) do the two external USB drives (Seagate and Iomega) have?  I have come across this problem once before that a file system other than NTFS may cause problems.  Recommended action:  Format the two external drives with NTFS (backing up data if necessary first).  If the two drives came with NTFS, please disregard this reply.

Dev Mgr · Answer

In case you wish to try NTFS (assuming your disk is FAT32/16), you can convert to NTFS from the command line in Windows (will obviously have to be done on a different Windows system), with 'convert driveletter: /fs:ntfs' (e.g. 'convert e: /fs:ntfs'). This wouldn't require backing up your data (but for safety reasons I'd still recommend making sure you have a backup just in case).

waffle_xl · Answer

Thanks for the NTFS suggestion, but the drives are already formatted as NTFS. Still scratching my head, Clyde

waffle_xl · Answer

I have discovered that a USB drive with a separate power supply seems to work. I have tried the WD MyBook and a Seagate Freeagent Desk drive. Both have power supplies and both can be connected and disconnected without problems. However, both of those drives are huge and they weigh 2.5 lbs. each. Since I'll be alternating 5 drives for daily off-site backups, I'm trying to find a small, lightweight solution.

Thanks, again,

Clyde

PowerEdge Hardware General

T300 Locks up with External USB HD

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